


First day jitters

by MalecHeline



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Aline adopted her daughter early in life, Aline is a good mother, Aline is a new teacher, Aline is a single mom, Amaya Penhallow, Amaya attends kindergarten, Amaya has seperation anxiety, Amaya is in Helen's class, F/F, First day for them both, Fluff, Helen already teaches there, Helen and Amaya are cute, Heline with kids, Her name has special meaning, Izzy is the best auntie, Izzy/Aline friendship, Mommy!Aline, Show quote, Single Parents AU, meet cute i guess, teacher/teacher au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 16:24:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20138434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalecHeline/pseuds/MalecHeline
Summary: First day of school. For both Aline and her daughter.





	First day jitters

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! New fic for team green! My 7th fic for the shwlwbingo and we're still going strong!!! (this will probably be my second to last) The prompts used for this are: Single parents AU and Teacher/teacher AU. I don't know what goes on in American schools, education wise, but I think I didn't specify it too much so it would be understandable for most.

Aline sighed heavily as she opened up the lilac door that led to her daughter’s bedroom, stepping inside as quietly as possible. She could hear her daughter's deep breathing as she slowly walked through the room over to where the curtains were tightly shut. She looked back at her angel still dreaming away, scrunching her nose up as her imagination had probably taken over. It was a shame she had to be woken up, she looked so peaceful. Aline stared for a little while, just looking at her baby. But when she felt tears prickling in her eyes out of happiness, she opened the curtains, managing to get Amaya to open her eyes as well.

“Good morning, angel,” Aline said in the softest tone. She walked over to the bed her daughter was sleeping in and kneeled down. She looked so sleepy, opening one eye before the other, turning from side to side, but still smiling as she heard her mother’s voice. She reached out with her tiny, chubby hands. Aline chuckled softly but took her small hand into hers, kissing the back of it softly.

“Mommy,” Amaya whispered.

“Do you remember what we’re gonna do today?” Aline whispered as she brushed a few loose hairs behind her daughter’s ears, caressing her soft and squishy cheeks. Amaya just looked at her with big eyes, pulling one thumb in her mouth, not knowing what they were going to do that day.

“We have to go to school today,” Aline started. “It’s our first day. Are you excited?”

“Going to mommy’s school,” she concluded with a content smile on her face. Her eyes opened widely when it dawned on her what they were doing today and she quickly climbed off of her bed and ran towards her closet. Barely opening the drawers, and pulling every pair of pants and every shirt out of it.

“Slow down, baby, we have all the time in the world,” Aline chuckled as she looked at her daughter putting on her pants backwards and her shirt inside out. She moved over to the 4 year old and put her pants on right.

“Mommy, we’ll be late!” Amaya exclaimed impatiently as Aline took her time, pulling off her shirt and putting it back on.

“We still have an hour, sweetheart.”

“Is that long?” Amaya asked with her big eyes looking at Aline.

“Yes,” Aline smiled as she tickled Amaya in her side, making her squirm. A giggling child was the best sound in the word, Aline decided, as she heard a few giggles escape past Amaya’s lips. “Let’s eat something first, okay?” Amaya nodded vigorously and stretched her arms out to be carried. Aline rolled her eyes but pulled her up anyway, walking towards the kitchen where she already had breakfast prepared, knowing that Amaya took a while to finish it. She sat her down in a chair, pulled her closer towards the table and went over to the counter to grab her phone. She took a quick look at the little messages she had received and ticked in a number.

“Hello?” someone asked through the speaker. Aline had set the phone on the dining table and went over to sit with Amaya, already having a brush ready and some elastics to put in her hair.

“Hi!” Aline responded, as she started on her daughter’s hair.

“Hey, Aline. How are you doing?” Izzy said on the other line.

“Auntie Izzy!” Amaya almost screamed as she heard the voice of her favorite aunt.

“Hey, cutie,” Izzy answered happily. “How is my big girl?”

“I’m fineeeee,” Amaya drawled out. “Going to kindergarten with mommy today.”

“Yeah, I heard,” Izzy said on the other end. “Nervous for the big day, Aline? You haven’t taught since forever, so it must be weird right?”

“Kind of… it still feels a bit surreal. But I’m happy I got my supergirl with me!” Aline exclaimed as she tickled Amaya under her arms.

“You’re gonna do fine!” Izzy encouraged. “And my favorite niece is gonna do amazing today, right Amaya?”

“Huh?” Amaya looked up from putting some cereal in her mouth. Aline smiled softly and wiped off some of the milk, that was dripping around her mouth, with a napkin.

“You’re gonna be good girl today, right?” Aline asked her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Yes!” she cheered.

“That’s my girl!”

“Why'd you call?" Izzy asked interrupting the mother-daughter moment. 

"You're still picking up Amaya tomorrow after school, right?" Aline questioned, softly brushing her daughter's hair. 

“Yes of course! I’ll pick her up tomorrow,” she said. The line was silent for a few seconds. "Well, I gotta go now, but have fun baby girl. And you’re gonna do amazing Aline. You got this! Till tomorrow Amaya!”

“To tomorrow, auntie Izzy,” Amaya said with a full mouth.

“Bye,” Aline finally said and hang up the phone after Amaya and Izzy said a few goodbyes themselves.

“Today is gonna be fun, right?” Aline asked her daughter as she continued combing through her hair again. Making sure the bangs, sat nicely on her forehead. She pulled some elastics she had around her wrist and neatly pulled the girl’s black hair in two ponytails. She closely looked at the hairstyle, and smiled at her extremely cute daughter. _She really was blessed. _“Today is gonna be fine,” she whispered to herself, as she downed her almost cold cup of coffee.

***

“Ready angel?” Aline asked her daughter who was holding her tightly by the hand. They stood in front of the school’s entry, with lots kids running inside. Amaya had tightly held Aline’s hand in hers as she saw more and more kids approach. It was scary for her, she always felt the most at ease with people she was comfortable with, but when she had to meet different kids her age or had to socialize with people she didn’t know, she almost always closed herself off. Aline had tried to help her, see what she could do for her, but nothing had worked yet. Amaya was still the shy girl that was afraid of anyone she didn’t know, approaching her. It was heartbreaking to see her like this, to feel her shake or to see the fear in her eyes. All Aline wanted to do in moments like these was wrap her up in a blanket and carry her with her all day. But she needed to be independent, she needed to learn to socialize with others and to play together with other children. She wouldn’t get to do that if Aline was holding her hand at all times. Aline took a big breath, looked at her daughter’s glassy eyes who were staring back at her and walked inside, careful of all the kids running about. She walked with Amaya to her classroom and kneeled down to her as she was about to drop her off.

“Are you gonna stay with me, mommy?” Amaya asked in the tiniest voice, already knowing the answer. Aline looked up to the ceiling in despair, she’d wished to do nothing more, to just be with her and make sure she was okay, but she had her own class to pay attention to. It was only at the end of the hall, if something were to go wrong, she could always come running back to her.

“No, angel,” Aline softly spoke in the space between them, grabbing Amaya’s hands in hers. At least trying to soothe her a bit.

“Why?” her daughter asked.

“Cause mommy has to work,” she explained. “Right there,” she gestured towards the end of the hallway, where another teacher stood in the doorway. One of her colleagues she had met before. She waved softly as the other had spotted her.

“Can I come with you?” Amaya then asked, gaining back Aline’s attention.

“You have to go to school, baby. You’ll do lots of fun stuff here,” Aline explained while looking in the classroom that was filling up with children Amaya’s age. “Maybe you’ll color, or maybe you’ll get to watch a movie.”

“But I only want to watch a movie with Mommy,” Amaya whined and Aline had to swallow the lump in her throat as she saw thick tears gathering in her baby’s eyes.

“I’ll tell you what, the minute we’ll get home, I’m going to cook your favorite dinner and we’ll watch your favorite movie on the couch.”

“Can we do that now?”

“No, sweetheart. You’re teacher is going to teach you lots of things today and then in the afternoon I’m gonna take you home again.”

“Mommy is a teacher,” Amaya argued. “So mommy can teach me.”

“Angel,” Aline breathed. “Mommy has to go teach her own students. They need a teacher too. I promise you you’ll get the best teacher!”

“I want mommy,” Amaya cried as she threw herself in Aline’s arms. Aline was already worried this would happen. She knew the minute Amaya would realize her mother wasn’t going to be with her all day, she would be upset. Nothing was more gut wrenchingly heartbreaking than seeing your child sob in your arms, cause they were scared. So Aline sighed softly and pulled Amaya in her arms.

“You alright?” Aline suddenly heard a voice ask. She looked up and saw a blond woman standing there with a friendly smile on her face. Aline’s mouth involuntarily dropped open and she blatantly stared at the beautiful woman.

“Uh.. yeah…just,” she stuttered. “My daughter, she just… doesn’t…” Aline couldn’t find the right words, but as she looked at her daughter who still had tears in her eyes, she immediately felt guilty and went back to console her.

“Hey,” the woman whispered and kneeled down to their level. She slowly touched Amaya on the arm to make her look up. “I’m Helen,” she almost sang.

Amaya didn’t want to look up, wanted to keep hiding in her mom’s neck, but she blinked open one eye in curiosity and looked at the friendly smiling lady in front of her.

“Aline right?” Helen asked as she focused her attention now on Aline.

“Yeah, it’s nice to meet you, Helen.”

“Same here, when I heard people talk about the new teacher, I didn’t think she’d be so young and already have a daughter, that also happened to be in my class,” Helen chuckled and kept talking to Aline, knowing that Amaya was staring at her, hoping she’d be more comfortable with Helen once she made friends with her mommy.

“Oh yeah… you’re not too old yourself right?”

“No, but I don’t already have a four year old daughter,” she smiled.

“Four and a half,” Amaya whispered in Aline’s neck.

“Sorry,” Helen said, attention back on the little girl. “Four and a half.”

“I really didn’t expect this, to be honest. But she just happened and I’ve never been this happy about a decision I made. She’s my world,” Aline said softly, while looking at her angel.

“Shall I take her from you? So you can meet up with your own class?” Helen asked nicely, caressing the girl’s back softly with her delicate fingers.

“She won’t go easy, though. Especially lately, she’s been dealing with a bit of separation anxiety and I know most of the time it’ll go away on it’s own, but it’s still hard to see her like this.”

“Is that why you decided to teach at the same school she goes to?” Helen asked.

“Bingo,” Aline admitted. She sighed heavily, but put Amaya down on her feet again. She had to be stern for a bit, otherwise she’d never get to class.

“Amaya, I’m going to drop you off with this sweet teacher and you’re gonna have a great time, okay? Mommy has to go away, now.”Amaya still looked a bit upset, but her tears were almost gone by now. She was about to complain when Helen stepped in.

“We’re going to do a lot of fun stuff, Amaya. We’re gonna play, but we’re also going to learn how to draw or how to make shapes and eventually we are all gonna take a big nap,” Helen exaggerated with the sweetest voice Aline had ever heard, even _she_ was mesmerized by it. “That would be way more fun, than boring adult stuff wouldn’t it?” Helen asked the girl. She seemed to think about it, hand touching her chin, but as she looked at a nodding Aline, she decided it was going to be okay. She slowly took Helen’s outstretched hand in hers and walked away from Aline.

“Mommy is just gonna be at the end of the hall, if something happens. She’ll be right there, okay?” Helen tried to convince her some more. Amaya looked back at her mother and nodded softly, waving as she walked with Helen in the classroom.

“Bye, angel. I’ll see you soon!” Aline yelled after her, wondering how on earth this had worked, but she was grateful. She had to remind herself to give Helen a thank you gift after this week, or you know invite her over to dinner or something….. just as colleagues though, just as colleagues.

***

Aline looked at the clock and saw it was almost time to go home. The classroom had already emptied and she didn’t have much else to do today. So she grabbed her bag, put her stuff in it and walked out of the classroom, locking it. She wondered how Amaya was doing all day, if she was liking her new surroundings, if she liked the things she got to do and even though it shouldn’t it had been on her mind the entire day. She hadn’t luckily heard anything so she assumed things had been going okay, but she could never be too protective, she thought to herself. She said her goodbyes to some of her coworkers as she walked the hall. She stopped when she got to Helen’s classroom, and softly knocked on the open door. The sight that greeted her was the most unexpected. Helen was sitting at her desk with young Amaya sleeping in her arms, swaying her from side to side as she was still typing away on her laptop, probably doing some leftover work. Aline couldn’t help but wonder what magical powers Helen must possess to get her daughter in that position, but she couldn’t help but smile at the face of her sleeping, comfortable daughter in the arms of her new teacher. She crossed her arms over one another and just took in the sight for a while, she felt so relieved seeing her baby girl like this. So comfortable with another person. Aline was caught off guard as Helen suddenly looked her in the eye, gesturing for her to come inside. Which she did.

“How did it go?” Aline whispered, as she sat down on one of the tables across from Helen and Amaya.

“She was a little anxious in the beginning, new surroundings etcetera, but it got better as the day went on. She hasn’t played with anyone just yet, but I’m confident that will happen on its own. She didn’t cry and was very calm throughout the day, but she didn’t want to nap like the others, cause she told me you always tucked her in.” Aline smiled at that looking at the sleeping girl. “I asked her if she wanted to just watch a cartoon with me on my iPad instead. At first we were sitting next to each other, I even sat her in one of my big chairs, but eventually she just climbed in my lap and here she is.” Helen said as quietly as possible, in order to not disturb the small girl in her arms.

“She woke up when most of the kids did, but snuggled back once she realized you weren’t here yet to pick her up.”

“Poor thing,” Aline sighed sympathetically and moved closer to the two. She softly brushed aside some of Amaya’s hair, watching as her face twitched, but she still didn’t wake up.

“Why isn’t your husband picking her up? Work?” Helen asked unknowingly.

“I don’t have a husband,” Aline chuckled. “Prefer not to have one actually, since I’m not interested in men.” Helen blushed as Aline winked at her.

“Amaya is adopted…” Aline began. “She uh…” Aline looked at Helen, who stared up at her with her friendly brown eyes, giving her the strength to continue without pushing her. “I used to volunteer at an adoption center… I always wanted to just help the children that were already in this world, guess that’s why I became a teacher as well,” Aline huffed and stopped for a while, not knowing if she should continue, but seeing how Helen looked at her daughter still laying in her arms, she continued. “One day this tiny baby, almost too tiny, came in and she just got my attention. She was crying all the time, felt miserable until the middle of the night. My heart just broke for her every time her cries got louder. One rainy night when the droplets bounced against the windows, I decided to comfort her, most of the times the nurses or the people that worked at the adoption center picked her up, but this night I picked her up and…. she stopped. She stopped crying the second she laid comfortable in my arms, I didn’t know what hit me the second she closed her tiny hand around my finger or when she looked me in the eye for the first time… I just knew she was mine,” Aline whispered as she stroked Amaya’s cheek. “I could give her love, give her care, give her everything she would need. So why not? She’d have the life she deserved with me.”

“That’s… wonderful, Aline,” Helen said, tears welling up in her eyes.

“You know what Amaya means?” Aline asked, but Helen just shook her head. “It means ‘night rain’ in Japanese. I wanted to give her a name that said something about her heritage and something about our beginning. So here she is, Amaya Penhallow.” Amaya suddenly blinked open her eyes, as if she heard her mom whisper her name. She looked up at Aline and smiled brightly once she saw her mom finally standing there. Helen opened her arms a bit, so Amaya could easily climb out of her and into Aline’s.

“Home?” the girl asked once she was comfortable cuddled in Aline’s arms.

“Home,” Aline answered and reached for her bag, throwing it around her shoulder. “Thank you for listening…”

“Thank you for telling me, you didn’t have to, you know?” Helen replied honestly, as she stood up from her chair as well. Packing up her stuff to go home too.

“I trust you,” Aline decided. “I don’t know why, but I do.” Aline smiled one more time and carried Amaya out of the classroom, but not before saying one more thing to the blond teacher. “See you tomorrow and thank you for taking such good care of her.”

“Any time.” It was now Helen’s turn to smile as mother and her daughter walked out of the room. _Any time._

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, please leave a comment or kudo, thank you!!


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